Offshore bass fishing problem HELP!

[kj21]

Hey guys, 

So I have a major problem with fishing offshore and it comes down to confidence or simply having a target to cast at.

 

I currently am stationed and live near Toledo Bend and Sam Rayburn. I have been fishing some BFL and equivalent level tournaments. I do well in the spring when the fish are in shoreline cover.

 

In march I hired a guide to teach me how to fish offshore and to raise my confidence and it was awesome. Definitely helped. April and May were months where I focused on the bank and in June I fished a tournament where I tried to practice deep... then i caught a 5.5 and 6.5 up shallow and spent the tournament around rock next to deep water. The tournament went very well 5th out of 324 and $3000. Then I just spent the week on toledo fishing the big bass splash. 3 days of practice off shore with minimal luck. Went shallow on day 1 of tournament and caught a 5.62 for 2nd of the hour and further hurt my confidence of ever fishing off the bank.

 

How do I shake this?

 

Im the kind of guy that can litterally fish the bank 12 hours a day all week with no bites, put me out deep and i have 3 minutes til im going back to the bank.

 

I really appreciate the help and feel as if I can gain the confidence and fish off shore as hard as I fish the bank I could be a very dangerous fisherman.

 

One last thing is i have humminbird helix 7s and when i do graph, whether its all the wood here or my units i dont see much fish which may further hurt my confidence fishing off the bank. I feel okay fishing deep if I have a dock or bluff wall next to me but maybe its something to do with having a visual target. 

 

[Herbert Lorenzo]

Find bait fish deep by turning on fish ID to small fish . Predator fish will not be far away from small panfish that will be indicated on your Helix ..

[WRB]

Catt is by far the most knowledgable off shore bass angler on this site and knows both Toledo Bend and San Rayburn.

My advice for what it's worth is determine the depth the baitfish are at and the thermocline if it has developed. No reason to any deeper. Off shore doesn't always mean deep.

Tom

PS, turn off the fish ID is a learning tool.

Suggest reading the Deep or Shallow thread on this page

[cyclops2]

My deeper water is always find the baitfish.

[Junk Fisherman]

While I don't have any good advice, I gotta say that I really enjoyed your post.  Getting a guide for learning purposes is something I have done a couple times and it greatly helped.  And I love reading about your struggle with shallow confidence fishing versus fishing deep structure where you don't have the confidence but your instinct is that it's where you need to fish to be most successful.  This is the type of strategic thinking and self-awareness that I love about bass fishing.  Good luck.  

[Sissyfishing]

Fish creek bends and ledges with split shots drop shots and Ned rig light line, also keep your finger on the graphite part of the rod to feel taps and watch the line